God of the living word,
give us the faith to receive your message,
the wisdom to know what it means,
and the courage to put it into practice,
A New Zealand Prayer Book (Ashwin p 52)

0 Lord, you have given us your word
for a light to shine upon our path'.
inspire us to meditate upon that word,
and to follow its teaching,
that we may find in it the light that shines
more and more until the perfect day.'
through Jesus Christ our Lord
(St. Jerome c. 347-420)


O God, your word is living and active,
we thank you for all those who pray and work
to make your word alive and real in many people's lives.
Give us strength and insight to value and delight in the Bible
May we all realise that
'there is nothing like the written Word of God
for showing the way to salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.'
(The closing quotation is taken from
Eugene Peterson's version of 2 Timothy 3.15)

O Lord Jesus,
let not your word become a judgement upon us,
lest we hear it and do not it,
or believe it and do not obey it
Thomas a Kempis 1380-1471 (Ashwin p 53)

Acts 8.29-35

Come Holy Ghost, for moved by you the prophets wrote and spoke
unlock the truth, yourself the key, unseal the sacred Book.

One of the most fascinating TV programmes is the Antiques Road Show
where people bring in something hidden in their attic,
a painting or a piece of pottery or furniture
and the expert tells us about it, so much more than we would see by ourselves
and then he gives a price for it and you can see the owners' eyes sparkle
when they realise how precious that old pot was that they nearly threw away.

In Acts 8 we can read about an Ethiopian official, a minister of Finance,
a wealthy man travelling in a chariot
but worth far more than all the treasuries he controlled
was the scroll of writings on his knee that he was trying to read and understand.
Possibly on his belt he had keys to his treasure stores 
but what he lacked was a key to unlock the treasure of the Bible,
an expert who show how valuable this treasure really was.

Then Philip came along, guided by the Holy Spirit 
and on the basis of that passage of Scripture in Isaiah 53
'he told him the good news about Jesus'
Isn't this a lovely story?
A rich man locked out of the wealth of God's word
until Philip runs up and helps him understand.
It's a story that illustrates 2 Timothy 3.15
'and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, 
which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.'
Here is a very useful principle for approaching the Bible; 
it is not for proving us right but for making us right with God, 
not to make us renowned for how many verses we know
but to help us to know God through faith in Christ.
It is not a manual to establish the date of the end of the world.
It is not a book to condemn us.
The Scriptures may often rebuke and correct us (see next verse), 
but our Bible reading should not end on a note of condemnation.
It is given to make us wise for salvation.

That's why Philip told the Ethiopian the good news about Jesus:
not mad news with confusing complicated timetables for the end of the world;
not sad or bad news that he was doomed and had no hope
not proud news that his prayers and bible reading were enough
that he was all right and others are all wrong
but GOOD news that bad and undeserving as we are
Christ died for us
that although we deserve to die, Jesus took our place
like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent

The Bible is indeed a big book, a collection of books.
It is easy tog et lost in it, easy to be confused
by all the different interpretations and ideas about it
but don't let anyone confuse you
We should view the Bible in the way it means itself to be viewed
as a portrait of Jesus Christ
Bishop Christopher Chavasse described the Bible portrait of Jesus like this:
'The gospels are the figure itself, 
the Old Testament the background leading up to the divine figure, 
pointing towards it and absolutely necessary for the composition as a whole. 
The Epistles serve as the dress and immediate surroundings of the figure,
explaining it and describing it
and then while by our bible reading we study the portrait as a whole, 
the miracle happens, the figure comes to life. 
Stepping from the canvas of the written word the everlasting Christ becomes, 
as he did for the disciples on the Emmaus road, himself our bible teacher, 
to interpret to us in the bible story all the things concerning himself.'

What a precious portrait. But is your copy gathering dust in your attic?
How can we claim to know Jesus Christ 
if we do not know what the Bible tells us of him?
Is there anywhere else that we can find news of Jesus?
Is there anywhere else which will give us such spiritual growth and strength?

Psalm 1 gives us the model.
'Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked 
or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, 
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.'
Psalm 1 gives us a choice:
We can spend time listening to the world without God, 
the wicked the sinner the mocker
or we can spend time listening to and delighting in the living teaching of the Lord
The world of no God or the word of the living God?
'But his delight is in the law of the LORD, 
and on his law he meditates day and night.'
And such a person is like a tree planted beside a river,
strong, secure, flourishing

Imagine two lovers separated from each other.
How do they manage? How do they keep love alive?
Maybe he has a picture of her, maybe she pores over his letters, 
every word is precious.
This is the picture of one who loves us so much he died for us.
These are the love letters that tell us so much about our love.
Why do we not delight in this Book more than we generally do?

Dr Patrick Hillery former President of Ireland 
came to open the Scripture Union Centre at Ovoca Manor
and told a couple of interesting things about his encounter with the Bible.
As a GP he had realised that some people who came to his surgery 
didn't need a prescription of drugs
they needed spiritual help and he used to prescribe for them a bible reading
some Psalms or the Sermon on the Mount and it seemed to do them good.
The he realised he needed the same for himself
and began a practice of reading the Bible, a chapter each night
something he says has changed his life significantly.
To delight in God's word is the source of health
physically, mentally and spiritually.

Some people make much of the difficulties in the Bible
parts hard to understand, parts that contradict.
I don't imagine I will ever solve all my problems in bible study in this life
but don't let that deter you from the truth in 2 Timothy 16
16 All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 
17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

All scripture is inspired by God
even if we cannot immediately resolve all the difficulties
Back in the 1940's a young American knelt down by a tree stump 
He was walking at night struggling with his problem in bible study.
This is what he prayed laying his bible on a tree stump in the moon light
'Oh God, I cannot prove certain things. 
I cannot answer the questions some people are raising, 
but I accept this Book by faith as the Word of God. 
I stayed by the stump praying wordlessly, my eyes moist... 
I had a tremendous sense of God's presence. 
I had a great peace that the decision I had made was right.'
Was he right? That man was the young Billy Graham
possibly the most well known Christian of the past century
whose unashamed clear preaching 'the Bible says'
has led possibly millions of people to living faith in Jesus Christ.
Sadly, one of Billy's close friends of that time
also a young evangelist, and Billy would claim more talented than himself
had a similar struggle about accepting the Bible
but came to a different conclusion
and ended up trusting his own reason 
rather than the scripture as the final authority.
His power in preaching was lost and his faith flickered and disappeared.
I do not claim any more than Billy Graham would
that I can solve all of the Bible's problems
but I do say that there is nowhere else where you will hear the voice of God
so clearly and compellingly, 
to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Not in the chat shows, not in the newspaper editorials,
nor in music or drama or other great art
nor even in some deep religious experience
if the Bible is ignored and denied.

The other night on the radio programme 'Seascapes' 
Tom McSwiney celebrated the work of our river pilots.
These are the people who know the flow of the waters and know the charts
Tom made the point that the pilot does not command the ship, 
the captain still does but he has invited the pilot to guide him
and he would be very foolish not to take his advice

Perhaps that's a picture of the role of the minister as bible teacher:
I am to be your pilot, I do not command you
and the advice I give must not be based on what I think, on some wild impulse
but on what the charts say and on my experience of how the river flows
and yes, if my advice is based on the chart of God's word
you may be very foolish to go a different way.
What would you think of a pilot who just tossed a coin to choose a path
or of a captain who heard the pilot's advice but gave a different command?
Selwyn Hughes makes the same point
'Someone who tries to live without the guidance of the Bible 
is like a captain of a ship brushing aside his charts 
and saying he will be guided only by his intuition. 
No one can remain spiritual who is not scriptural.' 

Let me finish by asking is your Bible useful and used or is it abused?
An abused Bible is one that is nicely polished and dusted in your front room;
it is respected as a holy object but rarely opened;
maybe we say it is too good to use.
But a disused Bible is worse than one battered about a bit.
It's good if we wear out a Bible because we read it so much and mark the pages
and loosen its binding.

through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures
may you have hope
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement
give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus
so that with one heart and mouth 
you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus